“Good Shepherd” is episode twenty of season six of Star Trek: Voyager.
Chakotay enters the captain’s ready room. Seven of Nine has done a ship wide efficiency analysis that she wants to present to the senior staff, and there’s a class-T cluster they’ll be passing through. Captain Janeway thinks the cluster is worth sending the Delta Flyer to. Chakotay returns to the bridge and tells Tom to get the Flyer ready and Harry to scan the cluster. Harry contacts Seven to ask if she can improve the scans. Seven tells another crewmember to take the specs to B’Elanna, who tells someone to that they need more power. That crewman heads to Deck 15 and hands a power transfer request to someone who doesn’t seem terribly interested.
The crewmember who Seven handing the specs to contacts another, Billy, during the night. She wants help with sensor analysis. Billy says it’s too complicated for comms; either meet him in the mess hall or wait until tomorrow.
Seven has rated the ship’s efficiency at 76%. The night shift could be assigned additional tasks. B’Elanna is failing to utilising all her assets. Namely, Mortimer Harren, who has five advanced degrees in theoretical cosmology yet has been assigned to the plasma relay room. B’Elanna has tried to use Harren better. It doesn’t work; he wants to be in the plasma relay room as it gives him more time to postulate the origins of the universe. Seven says security is near perfect efficiency, except the weapons in the weapons locker could be arranged better.
William Telfer – Billy – has affected the Doctor’s efficiency. He visits sickbay once a week complaining of non-existent illnesses. The Doctor says he’s a hypochondriac; he’d treat Billy, except he’s afraid of medication. And also afraid of counselling, in response to the captain’s suggestion. Harry suggests astrometrics could use improvement. Yes, Tal Celes. A sensor analyst whose work always needs checking. Seven would assign her elsewhere. Perhaps engineering.
After everyone else has been dismissed, the captain talks to Chakotay. The three problem crewmembers have never been on an away mission. Chakotay says Harren never volunteers, Celes can’t pass the proficiency and Billy always has a note from the Doctor. There are always a few people who don’t make it on a starship during their first year. Normally, they would be reassigned. Rather than relieve them of duty, the captain decides she’s going to deal with it. Her ship, her crew, her problems.
Billy is talking to Celes in the mess hall when the captain approaches them. They are going on an away mission tomorrow morning; briefing in astrometrics. She then heads to see Harren. He would prefer not to leave his post. That’s not relevant. His expertise is needed.
In astrometrics, Billy is concerned and hopes they won’t explore planets. The captain reassures them everything will be fine. Thereby guaranteeing something will go wrong. After the briefing, Seven states Celes is unreliable; the captain will be better served with a more experienced crew. Captain Janeway tells her the story of the good shepherd. She won’t abandon her crew, no matter what the problems.
Later, Billy contacts Celes, claiming he is too sick to go. She doesn’t believe it. Nor does the Doctor. He isn’t giving Billy a medical excuse this time. And why does Billy have a medical tricorder anyway?
The three unwilling members of the crew head out on the Delta Flyer. The craft briefly shakes, but it seems unimportant. So, Janeway is heading off with a hypochondriac, someone who is less than perfect at her job and a theoretician, who hates space exploration and practical work, who only joined Voyager for a year’s hands-on experience before moving to the job he really wanted. And, of course, something does go wrong.